Hairless

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Razors, tweezers, wax and hair removal creams: these are the tools for the initiation rites that signal the passage from girl to woman. Today the only acceptable places for a woman to have hair are on her head (preferably long), her eyebrows (not too wild) and eyelashes (not too sparse). All kinds of cosmetics are sold to achieve the desired effect of localized luxuriance. At the same time, the industry of removing hair everywhere else on the body advances relentlessly. Hair is no longer a sign of joy but a battleground of cosmetic surgery. In this short book, the Catalan writer Bel Olid draws on her own experience to dismantle preconceived ideas about the supposed benefits of waxing and shaving and to lay bare the social penalties that are meted out to any woman who allows their body hair to grow. With clarity and courage she exposes the contradictions and hidden costs of hair removal and issues a rousing call to women everywhere to throw out the razor and rediscover the joy of hair.